Keaton: Saphead

Keaton: Saphead

classified U S

part of Slapstick Festival 2025

Film

Thu 13 Feb 13:45

Director
Herbert Blaché, Winchell Smith
Cast
Edward Jobson, Beulah Booker, Edward Connelly
Details
77 mins, & Subtitled, USA

In 1920, having served a slapstick apprenticeship in the shorts of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, Buster Keaton had earned the opportunity to headline his own series of two-reel comedies.

The very moment at which he emerged as a star of his own shorts, Keaton was recruited to appear in his first feature film, The Saphead, based on a popular stage play.

Keaton stars as Bertie Van Alstyne, the pampered son of a powerful Wall Street financier (William H. Crane). Having known no other lifestyle but privilege, he wanders through a variety of misadventures—an attempt at courtship, a trip to an illegal gambling den, and a tumble onto the floor of the Stock Exchange—oblivious to the obstacles that stand before him.


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